Wisconsin's three most recent governors have pardoned nearly 500 people convicted of crimes

Dec. 12, 2010

Written by

Ben Jones

Post-Crescent Madison bureau chief

Process at a glance

To receive a pardon, people must complete an application that includes a copy of the criminal complaint from the case, letters of reference, a work history and input from the district attorney and judge in the county where the crime occurred. Applicants appear before a seven-member advisory board, which asks questions and makes a recommendation to the governor, who ultimately decides whether to issue a pardon. A felony pardon allows a person to again possess firearms, hold public office and obtain a variety of licenses.

Pardon recipients

Examples of people who have received pardons from Gov Jim Doyle:

John Madison was pardoned in 2005 for a 1954 burglary conviction in Milwaukee. Madison was 19 when he committed the crime and was 71 at the time of his pardon.

Magnoia Turbidy was pardoned in 2009 for the crime of delivery of LSD in Walworth County. She was 20 years old when she was convicted and was 29 when she received the pardon. She sought the pardon so she could travel internationally as part of international aid work.

Jerry Hardy was pardoned in 2009 for a 1977 conviction of delivery of amphetamines in Rock County. Hardy asked for the pardon so he could participate in an honor guard and veteran burial ceremonies.

Cherise McKinney was pardoned this year for a 1992 Milwaukee County conviction of possession of cocaine and obstructing an officer. McKinney works as a pastor and works with at-risk youth.

Michelle Mattie was pardoned in 2009 for a 1992 conviction of theft in a business setting. The conviction hampered her employment and prevented her from becoming a Girl Scout troop leader.Source: Pardon documents

Record keeping

The Secretary of State's office keeps the pardon documents in its 10th-floor office on the Capitol Square in Madison. By law, copies are available for $2 apiece. Secretary of State Doug La Follette said people rarely ask his office to see the paper documents, which the state does not post online. The agency is located at 30 W. Mifflin St. Mailing address: P.O. Box 7848, Madison, WI 53707-7848. E-mail: statesec@sos.state.wi.us. Phone: 608-266-8888

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MADISON — Drug dealers, prostitutes, welfare cheats, burglars and even murderers all have been given another chance by Wisconsin's governors.

With swipes of their pens, the three most recent governors pardoned nearly 500 people convicted of crimes.

It is one of the greatest powers state law grants to the chief executive. But its use often goes unnoticed by the general public.

Following a dustup at the Capitol this fall after the state Pardon Advisory Board waived interviews for applicants seeking pardons for misdemeanor crimes, The Post-Crescent reviewed pardon documents from 1987 to late 2010. The time span covers the terms of Gov. Jim Doyle and his two immediate predecessors, Scott McCallum and Tommy Thompson.

The rarely viewed documents, which the newspaper obtained under the state Public Records Law, provide a glimpse of those who win pardons and the practices of those who grant them.

Some of what the newspaper found:

Doyle issued far more pardons than McCallum or Thompson. In eight years, Doyle has issued 260 pardons. McCallum issued 11 pardons in two years, and Thompson issued 225 in 14 years.

Several convicted killers were pardoned. Last year, Doyle pardoned Ruby McCuiston, who had been convicted of homicide by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon in 1990 and sentenced to five years in prison. Thompson pardoned John Henry Truss for second-degree murder in 1991, David Thomas Gibbons III for homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle in 1993, and Gary D. Gonnering for homicide by negligent use of a motor vehicle in 1993.

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Thompson shortened prison sentences five times. Doyle has never commuted a sentence.

The average age of people who received pardons from Doyle was 45 and their average age at the time of their crimes was 23.

People sought pardons for a wide variety of reasons, including a desire to be able to more freely cross international borders for work, to run for local elected office and to become a volunteer.

Pardons scrutiny

A seven-member state Pardon Advisory Board appointed by the governor considers pardon applications and makes recommendations to the governor, who has sole authority to grant a pardon.

The process has received attention in recent months.

Earlier this year, Maria Ruskiewicz, an Appleton native, came forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior by former Calumet County Dist. Atty. Ken Kratz.

Ruskiewicz said Kratz sent her sexually suggestive text messages in 2008 after she approached him to help secure a pardon in a more than decade-old drug conviction. She needed the pardon so she could become an attorney.

Ruskiewicz received the pardon, but after the news broke about Kratz, Doyle said he was troubled by the reports he heard regarding the pardon.

"(That) there was an attempt to use my power as governor to somehow have a relationship with a woman, I take that allegation very, very seriously," Doyle said at the time.

Late this year, pardons also made the news when the Pardon Advisory Board waived interviews for applicants seeking pardons for misdemeanor offenses.

Adam Collins, a spokesman for Doyle, said that was a "unique situation."

"It was the only time in the governor's two terms that … an entire hearing of the pardon board was solely for misdemeanor applicants," he said.

Old crimes

Doyle takes the pardon process seriously, Collins said. Before being elected as governor, Doyle spent years prosecuting criminals as a district attorney and state attorney general.

He considers factors such as the number of years since the crime occurred, the seriousness of the crime and any other possible run-ins with the law by the applicant, Collins said. In addition to the advisory board's recommendation, Doyle considers the recommendations of prosecutors and judges in the county where the crime was committed.

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"When you see the pardons that have been granted over the last eight years, what you see, generally speaking, is people who had an incident when they were young," Collins said. "Oftentimes, it was years and years ago. And, since that time they've really been good members of the community. Those are types of things that are really taken into account."

Landsverk was convicted in 1950 in Brown County for seven counts of breaking and entering and operating a vehicle without the owner's consent. He sought the pardon because he wanted to run for public office. But he died last year due to health problems and never pursued elected office.

Mavis Landsverk said her husband committed the crimes when he was a teenager and living with his grandmother in Green Bay.

"He never talked much about what he had done when he was young, but he made sure our boys were honest, truthful and tried to do the best they could," she said.

Landsverk was ill during the pardon process and his wife waited until he returned home from the hospital to tell him the pardon was granted.

"He was so thrilled," she said. "You never saw a man that was so happy about this and so relieved."

Gary Domaika of Rhinelander sought a pardon in 2008 for a burglary conviction 20 years earlier. He said he was 18 when he committed the crime and later worked as a truck driver and wanted to be able to travel into Canada. He said he also was trying to re-enlist in the National Guard.

Receiving the pardon felt "awesome," Domaika said. He framed the document signed by Doyle and hung it on his wall.